SRI Bond Listed Balance 159.6 Trillion Won '94.4%↑' · Listed Items Surpass 1,000

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] The Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) bond market is experiencing remarkable growth. SRI (Socially Responsible Investment) bonds refer to green bonds, social bonds, and sustainability bonds, where the raised funds are used for projects that create positive environmental or social impacts.

According to the Korea Exchange on the 17th, last year the SRI bond market achieved balanced growth across different types due to active participation from private companies, recording the highest quantitative listing performance with KRW 86.8 trillion and 664 issues.

For the first time since the establishment of the SRI bond market, the post-reporting obligation (21 companies, 200 issues, KRW 29 trillion) was fully complied with, alleviating concerns about greenwashing and achieving qualitative growth as well.

At the end of last year, the outstanding balance of listed SRI bonds reached KRW 159.6 trillion, a 94.4% increase compared to the previous year. The number of listed issues surpassed 1,000, more than doubling from the previous year. The number of listed companies grew 4.3 times to 175.

Last year, the amount of newly listed SRI bonds reached KRW 86.8 trillion (664 issues). The newly listed amounts of green bonds and sustainability bonds each exceeded KRW 10 trillion, laying the foundation for balanced growth across SRI bond types.

The number of newly listed SRI bond issuers last year was 165, a 5.6-fold increase from the previous year. Participation by private companies (113 companies) increased by 96 compared to the previous year, demonstrating qualitative growth with diversification of listed issuers.

Newly listed SRI bonds last year were mainly issued as short-term bonds. Bonds with maturities of three years or less accounted for the largest share at 42.1% (by amount). Bonds with maturities between three and five years accounted for 26.7%, and those between five and ten years accounted for 17.3%.

The credit ratings of newly listed SRI bonds last year showed that over 90% were rated AA or higher, indicating that most had excellent credit quality. Green bonds had the largest amount at KRW 6.6 trillion with AA ratings, social bonds had KRW 56.1 trillion with AAA ratings, and sustainability bonds had KRW 9.4 trillion with AA ratings.

Since the implementation of the post-reporting system (June 15, 2020), 200 SRI bond issues were inspected for the first time, with 100% compliance with obligations. Execution performance was very high, with 199 issues using all raised funds early. The raised funds for the post-reporting SRI bonds amounted to KRW 29 trillion and were all used appropriately for projects beneficial to the environment and society.

A Korea Exchange official stated, "Considering that the SRI bond market is in its early and growth stages, we will actively support the market by incorporating industry opinions and aligning with global trends to ensure it is well established."